Chapter 4.3 Mineral Resources

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Vocabulary

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Gemstone: a mineral that is hard and colorful and has an extraordinary shiny luster

Ore: a type of rock that has a metal or a mineral that is economically useful

Smelting: the development which ore is liquefied to split the useful metal from other elements

Alloy: a hard-core solid mixture of two or more metals

Strip Mining: Earthmoving equipment scrapes away the soil to expose ore

Open Pit Mining: miners use giant earthmoving equipment to dig a tremendous pit

Shaft Mines: often has a network of tunnels that extend deep into the ground, following the veins of ore

Outline

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The uses of minerals

• gemstones are rare and beautiful
• metals to build monuments
• other uses
  • food
  • medicines
  • fertilizers
  • building materials

Ores

• rock that contains useful minerals

Prospecting

• prospector